CRAIG AND ASHLEY

Craig’s a new student at Degrassi and instantly becomes one of the school’s biggest heartthrobs. Girls are flirting with him and a couple of the main characters develop crushes on him.

Ashley used to be the school’s golden child. She was in a long-term relationship (in grade 8!), had lots of friends, was school president and was all around little miss popular. Until she made the mistake of taking ecstasy one night and hurt her friends/cheated on her boyfriend. Thus began the school’s freeze-out of Ashley Kerwin. Ashley falls into a darker state and begins dressing all in black, cuts off most of her hair, and spends a lot of her time writing intense poetry.



Although Craig could seemingly date any girl at Degrassi, he shows little signs throughout the season that he’s interested in Ashley. He signs her petition against GM Foods and when Craig tells his step-dad that he has a date, Joey assumes “he asked that Ashley girl out”.

Ashley eventually gets back together with her old boyfriend, but things don’t go very well. He can’t seem to connect with the “new Ashley” and Ashley feels like she can’t be herself around him. During this time Ashley and Craig get paired up on a school project to perform a version of Taming of the Shrew. While other students perform the play in a light-hearted manner, Craig and Ashley decide to show it for what’s really going on. Ashley is surprised that Craig agrees with her and she states how glad she is that “they’re on the same page”.



Ashley feels pressured by Jimmy and uncomfortably reverts back to her old preppy look. While most of her friends immediately accept her again, Craig calls her out on this change.

“If he really loved her, he wouldn’t want to change her.”








After performing their version of the play Ashley realizes she can’t be with Jimmy anymore and the two break up, leaving her free to pursue a relationship with Craig. Craig and Ashley become closer friends and Craig asks her to go with him to the end of the year dance. Ashley immediately agrees and the two plan to go together. Unfortunately Craig’s father dies the weekend before the dance and it hits him very hard. Craig tries to pretend as though nothing’s wrong and enters him and Ashley into the Luau King & Queen contest. Craig eventually becomes overwhelmed with his emotions and has a break down. Ashley stands by him and they share a sweet dance before he goes home to deal with his issues.




It’s the beginning of a new school year and Craig and Ashley are officially a couple! Cute little moments show them in their sweet high school relationship. Things seem to be going great for the two of them until Craig wants to go all the way. Ashley pulls away because she needs to hear 3 little words first. Because of who Craig is, he finds it hard to muster up the words, although he does love her. Ashley decides they need to take a break and Craig is determined to make things right again so he finally tells her how he feels through a song.





Something ‘bout the way you shine
When the lights go out,
I wanna make you mine
Something ‘bout the way it seems,
You’re always here in my dreams
When theres no one there,
No I’m not scared,
but I’m in love with you.



Ashley and Craig decide to go all the way. Craig can’t hide his excitement though and blabs to Spinner about their plans. Ashley finds out and says that he doesn’t really love her. Heartbroken, Craig leaves the party alone and Manny (younger girl who’s had a crush on him forever and has just decided to shed her cute, innocent image for a much sexier one) follows him home. They end up having sex and Manny thinks they’re gonna start a relationship, but Ashley ends up apologizing to Craig and by the end of the episode they’re back together. Craig starts thinking with his penis though and keeps seeing Manny on the side. His lies all come out in the end and he loses both girls.



Ashley slips into a bit of a depressed state and has to come to terms with how Craig treated her. She uses a battle of the bands to try and get back at Craig. Her song “Mr. Nice Guy” depicts the cruel way he treated her and how much pain she was in. Craig is infuriated (especially when the girls show up wearing flaming Craig shirts!), but still doesn’t quite get it.



“I’m sorry okay!? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!! How many times do I have to say it?”

”Until you mean it.”

Craig finally makes the apology that Ashley deserves and he sings it with his band, ultimately winning the competition and Ashley’s forgiveness.







It’s a new school year and Ashley and Craig are attempting to be friends again. It’s tough at first, but they quickly fall back into the swing of things. Craig even invites Ashley to play in his band, much to the dismay of his band-mates. He’s told to kick her out, but ends up kissing her instead! Craig eventually tells her that she’s out of the band and she leaves the recording session. Mid-session Craig stops singing and realizes…

“Um, everything, it was all about Ashley. It wasn’t about a single, or making it big…just Ashley!”





So he leaves the studio and rushes after her. After telling her that “the recording studio will always be there, but you I wasn’t so sure”, Ashley pulls him in for a kiss and they are officially back together. Ashley’s mom isn’t too happy about this and warns Ashley to stay away from him. Nothing can keep them apart now though. Ashley’s dad is getting re-married and Ashley’s feeling incredibly stressed. Craig tries to help her de-stress by getting a hotel room to relax in.

Ashley: Thank you so much for doing this.

Craig: I love you.

Ashley: And thank you so much for saying that. Perfect. I love you too.






They finally have their first time and both are in complete bliss for a while. Craig takes things to another level though, when he decides he wants to marry her. With his mother’s ring, Craig gets down on one knee and pops the question. Ashley freaks out and says she can’t marry him, prompting Craig to freak out. He goes back to the hotel room and destroys everything. Ashley calls him in the morning and tells him she changed her mind.

Ashley: I, I can’t marry you yet. But I want to. I do.

Craig: So that’s a someday?

Ashley: That’s a yes.




So things are well with them once again…until Craig makes the announcement at Ashley’s dad’s wedding that they’re engaged. Ashley is humiliated and Craig makes a big scene at the wedding. They’re both completely crushed and confused about what’s going on. Craig has his ultimate breakdown when he starts beating up his step dad. Ashley rushes in and stops him, while promising that they’ll get him the help he needs. Craig ends up in the hospital and is diagnosed as bipolar. Ashley tells him that she’s not leaving him.



Their relationship continues and has its ups and downs, but through it all their love stays strong and they maintain a strong, emotional connection. Ashley decides to leave for London (the actress left the show for a year) and Craig is left heartbroken. We can only hope for there to be some sort of reconciliation in the future season(s), but who knows.







And if you actually read this, you're amazing lol! I get kind of carried away when it comes to Crash. If you think you could be interested in this couple, please come stop by at the Angsty Artists thread: here!

__________________